Am.  Jour.  Pharm. ) 
October,  1910.  j 
Pink-Root. 
469 
time  popular  remedy,  that  as  Hollembaek  and  others  assert,  was 
frequently  employed  as  a  substitute  for  the  Spigelia  marilandicaf 
And  this  suggests  that  ponderous  tomes  like  the  United  States 
Dispensatory  frequently  contain  much  that  is  interesting  and 
amusing,  if  recognized,  and  sadly  misleading  if  one  unwittingly 
relies  on  them  for  the  information  that  they  are  expected  to  con- 
tain. Reverting  for  a  moment  to  spigelia,  it  will  be  worth  while  to 
read  Stockberger's  monograph  on  this  drug  and  then  to  peruse  the 
peculiar  conglomerate  of  old  and  new  that  is  presented  in  the 
United  States  Dispensatory  as  a  description  for  the  same. 
Among  the  interesting  pieces  of  information  still  offered 
that  had  their  origin  before  the  Civil  War,  probably  before  the 
introduction  of  railways,  is  the  reference  to  the  emigration  of  the 
poor  Indian  and  the  marketing  of  spigelia  in  huge  casks  or  bales, 
from  St.  Louis  by  way  of  New  Orleans,  and  the  added  piece  of 
information  that  "  That  contained  in  casks  is  to  be  preferred,  as 
less  liable  to  be  damp  and  mouldy." 
Another  interesting  bit  of  information  is  the  assertion  that: 
"  It  is  frequently  necessary  to  separate  the  spigelia  from  the  various 
adulterant  roots.  Among  the  most  important  of  these  may  be  men- 
tioned the  roots  of  certain  small  vines  which  frequently  twine 
around  the  spigelia  stem ;  these  roots  can  be  distinguished  by  their 
being  long,  slender,  crooked,  yellowish,  thickly  set  with  short 
capillary  fibres,  and  much  smaller  and  lighter  colored  than  is  pink- 
root." 
This  statement  is  evidently  taken  from  a  book  by  James  Ewell, 
physician  in  Washington,  formerly  of  Savannah,  who  early  in  the 
nineteenth  century  expressed  the  belief  that  the  deleterious  effect 
of  commercial  spigelia  was  due  to  the  root  of  this  particular  vine. 
John  Redman  Coxe,  in  the  9th  edition  of  the  American  Dis- 
pensatory, refers  to  this  statement  made  by  Ewell  and  quotes  a 
letter  from  a  Mr.  Porcher,  who  controverts  the  theory  and  quotes 
a  Mr.  Stephen  Elliot  as  being  of  the  opinion  that  the  poisonous 
property  observed  is  characteristic  of  spigelia  itself. 
It  would  appear  desirable  that,  granting  that  "  commentaries  " 
are  to  be  simple  compilations,  they  be  so  labelled  and  that  wher- 
ever possible  the  original  reference  or  the  approximate  date  be 
appended  so  as  to  give  at  least  some  indication  of  the  reliability  of 
the  information  offered. 
